


Victory after all, I suppose!

by werepope (quiteparadise)



Series: 2014 Advent Calendar for a Filthy-Minded Athiest [22]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bad dates, M/M, Peter Jackson's Hobbit Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 01:10:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2832707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiteparadise/pseuds/werepope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam goes on a really terrible date and ends up on a pretty good one.</p><p> </p><p>Advent calendar challenge: Disappointment</p>
            </blockquote>





	Victory after all, I suppose!

**Author's Note:**

> This is late and there has been no proof-reading whatsoever. Que sera, sera!

This is the worst date in the history of dating. Definitely the worst in his personal history of dating. It probably manages to rank in the all-time top one hundred, globally and across the long span of human history. Anything worse than this would probably have to include death. Like a date that started with " _oh I have tickets to ride that new dirigible, the Hindenburg, would you like to join me?_ " The kind that would live in infamy.

This is Liam's Hindenburg.

Sure, no one has been burned alive yet, or asphyxiated on smoke, or any other really horrible thing. It's not that bad. But it's bad enough that Liam is sat at a table, across from a lovely lad who'd agreed to have dinner with him, and he is thinking about is all of the horrible ways people must have died in air travel disasters. Because thinking about smoke inhalation and catastrophic trauma is more pleasant than attempting to continue conversation.

How did this even happen? How did they not recognize this level of impending disaster? What kind of terrible, apathetic god allowed this to be?

His date drains his third glass of wine, finishing the bottle, and says: "Well, this has been awful. Let's never do it again, shall we?"

Liam sags with relief. "Thank you. Yeah. We'll just pretend we don't know each other, after this. Agreed?"

He nods assent, lays down enough money to cover half the bill, and leaves. It's the first thing they've managed to agree on all night.

It started yesterday, actually, while trying to decide what movie to see after dinner. Jake hadn't wanted to go see the new _Hobbit_ film because he hadn't seen the previous ones. He hadn't seen a single one of _The Hobbit_ films. How was that even possible? And worse, he'd thought they should see _Exodus_ instead. _Exodus_!

Liam should have known right then and there, but people deserved the benefit of the doubt. Maybe especially adorable boys who liked to flirt with their eyes during lectures. So they'd compromised on _Fury_ and agreed to meet for dinner beforehand. And yes, choosing a depressing as hell war movie for date night does serve as a pretty good indication of how the date is going to go. Who knew?

Well, screw it. He's going to go see _The_ fucking _Hobbit_. He deserves a little Lee Pace in his life.

In the ticket queue, he recognizes the dark messy hair of the boy standing in front of him.

"Hey. Anatomy," he says, because why not? His day has been made up of completely idiotic decisions so far. Might as well coast on it. See how deep he can bury himself.

The boy turns, probably curious as to what kind of ass-hat is capable of such a non-sequitur. He squints at Liam for a second, like he's trying to figure out if he's actually being spoken to, but then it processes. The word and Liam's face add up to something that makes marginal amounts of sense.

"Oh. Yeah. Hey."

Liam tilts his chin toward the marquee, where a dozen film titles are all squeezed together. Coasting. He's just coasting for the rest of the damn day. "What are you seeing?"

"The new _Hobbit_ ," the boy says, shoulders lifting a barely-there shrug. "You?"

"Same."

"Huh." The boy's mouth twitches a bit of a smile and moves forward in the queue.

Liam's seen all of Jackson's Tolkien movies in the theatre. It's tradition. And it feels almost like the end of an era, going to see the last one. Like, honestly. The last one. It's almost depressing. He feels stupid about thinking so, until the boy mentions it as the lights fall to semi-dark, before the previews start. Like he was thinking the same thing.

Liam introduces himself, just barreling through all the awkwardness of having sat beside a stranger in a theatre and chatting, and the boy offers Liam his box of candy instead of a handshake while he says: "Zayn."

Zayn is brilliant, as it turns out. He talks during the previews, good and bad things but always funny. It's enough to make Liam nervous, of course, because if Zayn talks through the movie Liam's going to have to shush him, isn't he? But then the Mad Max trailer comes on, and Zayn is dead silent while he watches.

"Looks good, huh?" Liam asks.

"Looks weird," Zayn says. "But Tom Hardy, you know."

Yes. Yes, he does, and he and Zayn share another smile before the lights go all the way down and the film starts.

They stay through the credits, just kind of being enthusiastic at each other. It was so good, though! The _rams_! How cool had that been? Just amazing. The whole thing. So good! And it is depressing that this is the last of the Tolkien movies, but won't it be awesome to watch them all in order? Wow. Just wow.

Back in the lobby, Zayn puts his leftover candy in the pocket of his jacket and takes his phone out.

"Can I get your number?" he asks. " _Into the Woods_ is out soon. We should go."


End file.
